Project: Phen - 3 Bedroom home No.1
Posted By Alec on December 5, 2011
The roof tiles have arrived and the frame is nearly complete, almost ready for the tiles to be added. All walls are also nearly complete and almost ready for rendering.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on December 4, 2011
Having poured the ground floor beams and columns, we are now busy preparing the scaffolding that will support the shuttering for the second floor beams.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on November 30, 2011
We recently poured the concrete for the ground floor beams and are have prepared the shuttering, ready for the columns to be poured later today.
Project: Phen - 3 Bedroom home No.1
Posted By Alec on November 29, 2011
We have now poured the floor slab of this project in Phen, and are now on to the brick work for the walls and also preparing the roof frame. Roof tiles should be arriving on site in the next few days, by which time the roof frame will be nearly complete. Walls should also be complete and ready for rendering in a few days.
Project: Haad Kham - 3 Bedroom Home
Posted By Alec on November 26, 2011
We have recently begun work on the design of a three bedroom home that is to be built in Haad Kham later this year. Our clients had an initial concept as a starting point and we are now working with them to develop this concept into a final design.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on November 26, 2011
After a very long delay on this project due to weather, things are finally once again moving along at scheduled pace. The rainy season this year lasted a lot longer than normal and the effect it had on this project was significant. The heavy rain made it impossible for the pile driver to move around on the site and complete all of the piles. Frustratingly, we had only been waiting for a break in the rain for four clear days so that the ground would be firm enough for the pile driver to drive the remaining small number of piles, but alas for many weeks it was not to be. Finally, however, at the end of last month the rains stopped, at least in this region and we were underway again. Since then, we have excavated the pile heads, pried the concrete footings that sit on top of the piles also the columns that join these footings to the ground floor beams. We have also prepared all of the steel work for the ground floor beams and completed all shuttering, in preparation for the concrete pour that will be happening today.
Project: Nong Wua So - 3 Bedroom Home
Posted By Alec on September 21, 2011
We are currently a fee days behind schedule on this project due to the bad weather we have been having in the area recently. Fortunately the site has not suffered from the flooding that there has been in some other areas in the region, but nevertheless, the rain has still had an impact. However, we have now completed all of the first stage columns and are up to ground level. Today an excavator back filled all of the footing holes, so moving forward with the project, the rain should be less of an issue. Tomorrow we will begin to install the steel cages for the grade beams, which we have been preparing under cover during the rain.
Project: Nong Wua So - 3 Bedroom Home
Posted By Alec on September 11, 2011
We have just begun work own our latest construction project in Nong Wua So district, near Udon Thani. Yesterday we marked out and excavated the footings. We used a large excavator, which makes the process very quick, however there is then a certain amount of manual work to be down to neaten up the holes and make sure all footings are to the correct depth, which is what we have been doing today. We have also added in the initial base layers of sand and concrete to the holes, onto which the main footings will be poured. Tomorrow is the lucky Buddhist day on which the first two columns will be erected. The final completion date for this project is March next year, so 6 months from start to finish. As we are nearing the end of the rainy season now, we should not have any major delays in construction.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on September 10, 2011
We have completed the basic concrete frame for the garage and are soon to begin adding the steel roof frame structure.
We have been somewhat at the mercy of the weather, and pile driving has been on hold for a number of days. Fortunately, with such a big project, there a a lot of jobs that can be done in parallel to the pile driving, so ultimately our schedule should not be adversely affected. Currently, we are preparing the hug he number of steel reinforcement cages that are required for the footings, columns and beams. We are also fortunate that the site is so large and we are not short of space to store these cages. One potential issue of stop piling these components is the oxidation (rust) that can occur if they are exposed to the elements for prolonged periods. The steel re-bar has already been sprayed with light oil once on leaving the foundry. However, through handling from foundry to stock holder to site, and then then cutting and forming it into the cages, some of this oil has inevitably worn off, exposing it to the risk of rusting. To prevent this, once complete, the cages are sprayed with light oil.
Another task on this site was to reposition the main access point into the site. First we had to obtain the necessary permission from the local government department, as there is a government owned strip of land between the plot and the road. Once approved, we installed the necessary drain pipe, as required, and have built up the new road way. We shall allow this to settle for several months before applying the finished road surface, using the existing access in the mean time.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on September 2, 2011
After a delay due to extremely heavy rain and bad weather, pile driving has now recommenced and is going very well. In fact, despite the delay, we are still on target to complete all pile driving on schedule. There are many issues that can be encountered during pile driving, from hitting impenetrable ground and fractured piles, to simply slow progress due to ground conditions. However, in this case, we have not encountered any such issues.
While pile driving is underway on the main house on the elevated section of land, we have also been busy constructing the separate garage unit on the lower lying land. We have already constructed footings and grade beam and are now preparing the reinforcement structure ready to pour the concrete floor. As the floor will be taking a relatively high load, we are not using pre-cast slabs, but have back filled with sand and will be casting a heavily reinforced slab in place. In casting directly onto sand, it is important to ensure that the underlying layer is adequately compacted. If not compacted this layer of floor support may settle over time and ‘sink away’ from beneath the floor. This may then lead to cracks and other structural weaknesses in the floor slab. With the garage, we used a mechanical compactor on the supporting sand to minimize problems in the future.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on August 22, 2011
We have begun pile driving, amongst other things, and this video shows the process of adding single pile. We are using 15 meter piles, driven to a depth of 16 meters. You will see in the video that once the pile is driven as far as it can go, and extension is added and it driven the additional meter to be at the correct depth. We will later excavate around the pile head in order to cast the concrete pile head mounting that will transfer the load from the columns and beams of the structure onto the piles.
Project: Modern 2 Bedroom 2 Storey Home (Thip Thani)
Posted By Alec on August 19, 2011
The plot on which our latest modern two storey home is to be built, in Thip Thani, had an existing concrete framework which needed to be removed. The structure was basically a complete concrete column and beam framework for a 2 storey home, up to roof level. This had stood unfinished for at least 5 years. In theory, this framework could have been filled in with brick walls, a roof added and then all of the finishing work carried out to give a complete home. The problem would first have been that one would be limited on the layout of the house to that already defined by the column and beam positioned. The second more serious problem, is that the internal structure of the columns and beams is a complete un-known. What size re-bar has been used? How deep are the footings? What strength concrete mix has been used? It is for this reason, that I personally would never undertake such a project and why all of this existing structure had to be removed. In actual fact, I would say that it quickly became clear that this was the right decision. The footings were clearly too shallow and too small and the re-bar used was totally unacceptable. Re-bar is the steel that puts the ‘re-enforced’ into ‘re-enforced concrete’. The steel re-bar used to make the cages that provide reinforcement to the columns and beams should look like that in the second picture below – a round steel bar with an almost screw like, or gnarled appearance. These gnarls provide grip to the steel bars within the concrete, binding the steel and concrete together firmly. The contractors we used to demolish the old structure were also extracting all of the metal re-bar from the concrete for recycling. This gave us a good opportunity to inspect the re-bar used. We found that ALL of the rebar used was not what we expected, but rather a completely smooth round section, as shown in the third photo. Using this type of steel significantly reduces the integrity of the structure and has only been used here in an attempt to cut corners and save money by the original builder. In addition to this, the diameter of the steel bar was also smaller than one would expect. With the evidence from the re-bar and footings, I would also not be surprised to find that the concrete used was also of a cheaper, lower strength.
Construction of the new home is to begin in around a months time, though a firm date has not yet been set.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on August 15, 2011
We have built up a temporary access ramp up to the raised area of land on which the house will be built. This is to provide access for the piling crane and other heavy machinery.
Project: Nong Wua So - 3 Bedroom Home
Posted By Alec on August 15, 2011
We have recently completed the initial concept design for a three bedroom two storey home which is to be built in Nong Wua So, near Udon Thani. Our client came to us with an initial design of a home which they liked, but wanted the floor plans and exterior styling developed further into something that more suited their style and requirements. We have worked with them to produce the final design concept that you see below. We are now busy with the structural engineering and planning phase and hope to have a complete set of plans and documentation ready by the end of August. Construction is due to begin in early September.
Project: Amoon on the Mekong
Posted By Alec on August 8, 2011
After a long period of design, development and refinement, we are now set to begin construction of this spectacular luxury home and guesthouse in Sangkhom. Over the past week we have been preparing the site by clearing the land, building a temporary camp and materials store, and also ensuring good road access to the site. The main building structure is to be situated on top of the 3 meter high raised section of land you can see in the pictures below. The actual structure will sit on top of a large number of piles, driven 15m into the ground below. You can see in the pictures below that we have marked the position of all of the piles. Piling is scheduled to begin on 16th August but in the mean time we have to prepare a temporary earthwork ramp up to the raised area of land to give access to the large piling crane that will be used. It will take approximately 2 weeks to add in all of the piles, though piling work will stop for 19th August when the official Buddhist ceremony will be held at which time the first two columns of the house will be erected.
Project: Thip Thani - 4 Bedroom Home
Posted By Alec on August 8, 2011
According to our initial building schedule, this project would have been nearing completion by now. However, due to circumstances outside the control of either us or our client, work on the 4 bedroom home in Thip Thani had all but stopped for over 2 months. With our client’s situation now resolved, work has begun again and we working hard to get the project back on track. Tiling of the roof is nearly finished as is the external rendering. By the end of the week, internal rendering should also be complete and we will begin adding the exterior architectural detailing to the home.
Project: LiveInn Nong Khai
Posted By Alec on July 26, 2011
We have completed the interior design concept for the hotel reception and are still working on the coffee shop, main restaurant and the standard rooms and suites.
Project: LiveInn Nong Khai
Posted By Alec on July 19, 2011
We have now finalised the exterior styling and interior layout for the design of the new “LiveInn Hotel” building. Although the general style of the design has remained largely unchanged from the initial concept I prepared, the building has grown in size, from six storeys to eight stories. The ground floor will be for parking and the mechanical room. Second floor will house the reception, coffee shop, gym and conference facilities. There will then be 5 floors of accommodation, each consisting of 14 standard rooms and two suites, 80 rooms in total. On the top floor there will be a large restaurant and some hotel services areas.
Having finalised the architectural design, our engineers are now progressing with the structural engineering of the building. With the client, we are now turning our attention to the detailed interior design work. We are hoping to have the interior design complete by mid August, which will then allow us to move on to detailed electrical and plumbing engineering and other hotel services.
We are aiming for an initial draft drawing set ready for review in September.
Project: Modern 2 Bedroom 2 Storey Home (Thip Thani)
Posted By Alec on July 19, 2011
As I wrote in a previous post, with this project we had completed a very rough concept and were on hold untl our client found an appropriate plot of land. Well, they have now secured a plot of land in Thip Thani. This will actually be our fourth construction project in this increasingly popular ‘Moo Baan’, located about 5km outside Nong Khai town center.
It can be difficult to design a house without knowing the position, orientation and size of land on which it is to be built. However, in this case the size and layout of the initial design fit perfectly onto the clients chosen plot. However, I have substantial redesigned the exterior styling of the home following further consultation with our client. The architectural design work is now complete and we have now commenced the structural engineering work in order to produce a full set of construction drawings.
We are planning to begin construction some time in August.
Project: Modern Style 2 Bedroom 1 Storey Home (Nong Kom Ko)
Posted By Alec on July 18, 2011
We have now almost finished the interior and exterior rendering of our project in Nong Kom Ko. The next step will be to begin installing the suspended gypsum ceiling and the bathroom tiling and fitting. As I mentioned in a previous post, tiling in the rest of the house and carpentry work will be carried out by third party contractors.
